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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 17, 2024 10:10:37 GMT -6
Quote, "heavyhitterokra So you think you’ll have blossoms in a couple weeks? Are the hoppers giving you much grief at the moment?"
I won't have early blossoms this year ... This year, everything is behind by almost a month, due to Margaret's campaign and the fact that I broke my ankle the first day that I actually had a chance to get some planting done.
I won't have first blossoms here until Somewhere around the last week of July to the first week of August.
The grasshoppers are pretty bad this year, being how we had them by the millions upon millions last summer. We never got any rain here this Spring hard enough to drown them while they were still young enough to be drowned by heavy rains.
(Don't get me wrong, we had a lot of rain) we just never had any really heavy rain during that time period. So, it looks like this will be the 3rd year in a row that we'll have an unusually heavy grasshopper load. We've been plagued by grasshoppers every summer since 2022.
As a rule, grasshoppers don't bother okra plants much if there is something better to eat, because of the slimy mucilage that gums up their chewing parts, but they do hit the blossoms pretty hard. They like to chew all the petals off before the flowers have a chance to pollinate. Hopefully, I've got so many okra seedlings planted this year that they can't possibly eat all of the blossoms. I didn't even think of planting any corn, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, potatoes, onions, squash, or any other things that grasshoppers would destroy this year, because I didn't figure there was much point in doing that. Last year, the grasshoppers ate everything in my garden except for okra and Roselle, so basically, those are the only two things I planted this year.
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Post by hedgeapple on Jun 21, 2024 6:41:56 GMT -6
My HH plants are beginning to hit their stride now with flowers popping off every day. Planting my okra early this year did my okra plants no favor, but they struggled through and have taken off in the recent days of high 80s and 90s.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 22, 2024 15:46:23 GMT -6
Hedgeapple,
I know what you mean by, "Planting early did my okra no favors." Every time I plant early, I end up with plants that are stunted by the cold. There's a narrow window to hit in order for it to really thrive. It's tough to find that window from year to year. If I plant too early, I get damaged plants, if I plant too late, the roots don't get established before the hot, dry, weather of July and August arrive. That will stunt them even worse.
Every once in a while everything comes up cherries, but, this just hasn't been one of those years for me. In a normal year I'd be looking at okra by late June or early July. This year, It will be more like the first week of August.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 17, 2024 11:36:30 GMT -6
My mother and I planted a later crop of okra this year using older Heavy Hitter Seeds. Germination was a bit spotty due to the age of the seeds, but the plants that did come up are looking beautiful. They haven’t flowered yet simply because they were planted late, so they’re still young. I’m hoping that it will be soon, though, as I’m looking forward to adding some Heavy Hitter harvests for okra I plan to put in the freezer.
One interesting thing I noticed when watering the plants this morning is that one plant is behind the others in terms of size. It may simply be due to genetics or to the condition of the soil in that one corner, but interestingly enough it is also just teeming with ants. I couldn’t even brush it without getting several dozen at least on my skin. They aren’t fire ants because they didn’t bite, and as far as I know, fire ants are the only ant that are actively harmful to garden crops. Correlation does not prove causation, of course, but I do wonder if there is a connection between the abundance of ants on that one plant and its lagging behind the others. . This infestation was bad enough that I did set a borax ant bait out at the base of the stem. It will be interesting to see if the plant improves at all if I can manage to reduce the ant population there.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 23, 2024 17:27:42 GMT -6
Chrysanthemum,
I've heard quite a few people complain of ants attacking their okra plants, especially during blossom time. I've never had that happen before, but I know the problem does exist.
Anytime you guys need fresh seeds just P.M. me here and I'll get you fixed up. I've always got plenty of surplus around here somewhere, all I need is an address.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Aug 25, 2024 19:49:32 GMT -6
Our okra hasn’t blossomed yet, but the plants are getting big and branching well and preparing. This was a later planting for us, so they’re still young. I’m expecting blooms any day and getting excited for them.
Thank you for the offer of fresh seed. We actually have some fresher than what we used from seed I saved when I grew plants in Texas, so I don’t need any right now. I also hope to save some later this season.. My mom just used an older package that you had kindly sent once before when I was having problems with critters digging up my plants. The germination rate wasn’t high, but most of the plants that did come up are simply beautiful. The one that had the ants isn’t bad but is noticeably stunted compared to the others. If I think of it, I’ll have to get some pictures.
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Post by rdback on Sept 4, 2024 8:22:11 GMT -6
Our okra hasn’t blossomed yet, but the plants are getting big and branching well and preparing. This was a later planting for us, so they’re still young. I’m expecting blooms any day and getting excited for them. Ditto, as they say. We've picked a pod here and there, but the plants haven't really hit their stride yet. But, they're close! Lots more flowers popping out. I do worry about this cool weather streak that's started, with only 70s for a high for the next week or so. It was 49F here this morning. Fingers crossed we have a good harvest.
![](https://i.ibb.co/WcKGcD0/IMG-20240829-161331617-2.jpg)
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Post by woodeye on Sept 4, 2024 12:58:40 GMT -6
Your okra stalks are plum purdy, rdback...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 4, 2024 19:52:37 GMT -6
“Plum purdy” is the perfect description of those okra plants. How many do you have in that row, rdback?
I think we’ll be having our first pods any day now, but I was wondering how they’d like the cooler weather. We had a low temperature of 49 this morning as well, and the high only got up to 72 in the shade under our holly tree where we keep the thermometer. The garden is definitely hotter. I’m loving the weather. I just hope the okra doesn’t mind.
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Post by rdback on Sept 5, 2024 9:33:13 GMT -6
Your okra stalks are plum purdy, rdback ... Thanks! They'd be a lot purdier if they had some pods on them, lol.
chrysanthemum , I believe there are 5 okra plants in that row. Nice, healthy plants with thick stems and good lateral branching. I'm sure pods aren't far behind.
However, as we all know, okra loves hot, but can it handle cool/cold? We're fixin' to find out! Fingers crossed.
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Post by FrostyTurnip on Sept 5, 2024 12:15:50 GMT -6
Our okra hasn’t blossomed yet, but the plants are getting big and branching well and preparing. This was a later planting for us, so they’re still young. I’m expecting blooms any day and getting excited for them. Ditto, as they say. We've picked a pod here and there, but the plants haven't really hit their stride yet. But, they're close! Lots more flowers popping out. I do worry about this cool weather streak that's started, with only 70s for a high for the next week or so. It was 49F here this morning. Fingers crossed we have a good harvest.
![](https://i.ibb.co/WcKGcD0/IMG-20240829-161331617-2.jpg) They look short. Healthy, beautiful and will still produce like mad. Did you plant late? Or is it the clime? Note: I’m comparing with my local growth (6 to 8 ft) which is all I know (as in know nothing about okra).
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Post by rdback on Sept 6, 2024 7:31:18 GMT -6
Yes B, Chrys and I started our plants later. Now it's a race against the cold. I think we still have time for a decent harvest. Fingers crossed.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Sept 6, 2024 15:31:49 GMT -6
Rdback,
What a beautiful landscape in that photo! Thank you for sharing that. Your okra plants are gorgeous, but the real treat is that wonderful lawn in the background. My hat's off to you and yours, for keeping up such an inviting place. I really admire the effort that goes into all of that. Like I said, just "Gorgeous!"
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Post by rdback on Sept 7, 2024 7:50:58 GMT -6
Rdback,
What a beautiful landscape in that photo! Thank you for sharing that. Your okra plants are gorgeous, but the real treat is that wonderful lawn in the background. My hat's off to you and yours, for keeping up such an inviting place. I really admire the effort that goes into all of that. Like I said, just "Gorgeous!" heavyhitterokra , well thank you, sir! Don't know how much longer we'll be able to do it, but it keeps us busy, lol. And I certainly don't do it alone.
...and, it didn't always look like that, lol.
![](https://i.ibb.co/sqZZ9Z1/IMG-20180709-173453114.jpg)
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